Hercules : a heroic life / Alastair Blanshard.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Blanshard, Alastair.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Hercules (Roman mythological character).

Hercules.

Heracles (Greek mythological character).

Heracles.

Physical Description:

xx, 200 pages : illustrations, 2 maps ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

London : Granta, 2005.

Summary:

Hercules is the original hero: half-god, half-man; strong, handsome and virile; triumphant in his twelve labours yet ultimately victim of his tragic destiny. He has been variously portrayed for thousands of years in sculpture, painting and verse, and more recently depicted on stage and screen. Roman emperors, renaissance princes, and totalitarian dictators have all attempted to appropriate his image. This unconventional biography of Hercules charts his life from his dramatic birth in Thebes to his agonizing death on a flaming pyre. Along the way, it recounts many long-forgotten yet revealing adventures and shows Hercules to be much more than just a muscle-bound hero. His life story, which mixes elements of tragedy and comedy, often makes uncomfortable reading; a rapist, drunkard and transvestite, Hercules' excesses reveal some of the darkest recesses of human nature.--Book jacket.

Contents:

The genealogy of Hercules

Birth

A restless youth

The madness of Hercules

Greek adventures

Labours in far-off lands

Death and Apotheosis

The afterlife.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 169-189) and index.

Other Format:

Online version: Blanshard, Alastair. Hercules.

ISBN:

1862076537

9781862076532

9781862078772

1862078777

0978186076532

OCLC:

61302823

Publisher Number:

978186076532

9781862076532 (hbk.)